Waking and Dreaming
by Tora II
Summary: Sanzo shot the man a heavy glare that he reserved for perverts and people who interrupted his paper work." Now a twoshot bit of fluff starring Sanzo and Goku. Pre-series Reviews are much appreciated.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: So this is my first Saiyuki fic and I hope you enjoy it. It takes place pre-series, a month after Sanzo brings Goku to Chang-an. Just a pointless bit of fluff, Sanzo style. ^_^

Disclaimer: Dude, if I owned Saiyuki, would I be writing fanfic?

Waking and Dreaming

Sanzo jerked up in his bed, his breath coming in harsh gasps that burned his throat. He could feel the cold sweat dripping down his back and sides adhering his sleeping robe to his skin. He knew it was a nightmare that had roused him and was grateful that he could not recall what it had been about. All he remembered was the sick terror and despair that came from helplessness. He felt along the floor next to his futon, fingers fumbling in the darkness for his cigarettes. Finding them, he placed one between his lips and lit it with a match from the book he'd taken to keeping next to his bed. He took a long drag and watched the plume of grey smoke, luminescent silver in the moonlight from the open window, fade as it rose to the ceiling. He could feel the last dregs of his terror fading with each exhalation of the evanescent clouds.

The fear itself was fleeting, but he wondered if he dared to fall asleep again. His nightmares were not the kind that quietly faded after waking. They tended to wait in the recesses of sleep until he drifted off again. This time around he may not be so lucky as to forget what they were about.

It was just then that he noticed the lump under the covers at his side. Startled, he looked down to see the tuft of brown hair and the gold diadem sticking out from beneath his blanket. He scowled down at his unexpected guest and took another drag from his cigarette. It had been only a month since he'd brought the stupid monkey back to Chang-an and the little beast was _still_ driving him insane.

Sanzo sighed and turned his gaze to the open window and the half moon hanging in the starry sky. He had thought that once he got that stupid voice in his head to shut up he would have some peace, but _no_, the moron insisted on following him back to the temple and had been nothing but trouble ever since. Though he had to admit that there had been nothing more severe than a broken urn since the first incident with the Seiten Taisei. (And he also had to admit that it was amusing to see the stiff and proper monks thrown into apoplectic fits of indignant rage at the monkey's antics.)

The sleeping Goku made a soft whimper in his sleep, drawing Sanzo's sharp gaze back to his ward. The monkey shifted and turned toward Sanzo. He wiggled over until his head was resting in the young monk's lap with one arm curled up to his chest and the other thrown around Sanzo's waist.

"What the-? You little shit, if you don't get off this instant I'm going to murder you!" Sanzo hissed. Goku's only response was to snuggle closer, making a happy sigh as he did so. Sanzo growled and wondered where he had put that blasted fan so he could beat some sense into the stupid monkey. He tried to shove the smaller boy away but it only served to make him tighten his grip.

Sanzo grumbled and cursed as he resigned himself to his fate. Not only would he get no more sleep that night, it seemed he would also be serving as a pillow to the stupid monkey. He shifted his own pillow and leaned back against the wall, stabbing out his cigarette in the ashtray at his bedside.

He'd closed his tired eyes for only a moment when the next thing he knew the bells of the temple were chiming to call the monks to their duties. The dawn light shone through his window, illuminating his sparse quarters. He straightened and bit back a curse at the crick in his neck. His leg was numb and Goku was still curled up in the same position from the night before, his chubby face slack in a sound sleep. Sanzo had to remind himself not to smile at the sight. There was nothing cute about his charge, nothing at all. Especially not when he was curled up like a kitten with a look of innocent, oblivious, contentment on his face.

"Priest Sanzo?" there was a soft knock on the door followed by the screen sliding open. One of the monks, Sanzo couldn't be bothered to remember his name at the moment, peered inside. "We are waiting for you to lead morning rites, Priest Sanzo," he said, bowing.

"Someone else can do it," Sanzo replied, turning his gaze back to the sleeping child in his lap.

"But Priest Sanzo--," the other monk started.

Sanzo shot the man a heavy glare that he reserved for perverts and people who interrupted his paper work. The monk fell silent, bowed, slid the screen shut, and fled.

Sanzo settled back against his pillow and lit up another cigarette. With his free hand he brushed a tuft of wild hair from Goku's face.

His refusal to do morning prayers had nothing at all to do with the boy asleep at his side. He just didn't want to get up. That was all there was to it. It had nothing to do with the warmth he felt in his chest or the comfort he took from having a warm body pressed close to him. And it most definitely had absolutely nothing to do with the sleepy, contented smile he received later that morning.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: I know I said this was going to be a oneshot, but Goku is a persistent little monkey and wanted to have his say.

Waking and Dreaming

Goku's POV

It wasn't a nightmare that roused Goku from his sleep. It was the silence. For a sleep-hazy, panicked moment he thought he was back in the cage on Mt Gogyou. The panic faded quickly when his eyes adjusted to the faint starlight that filtered through the narrow window, illuminating his tiny bedroom in Chang-an. He lay back on his futon with a relieved sigh and snuggled down under his blankets.

Now that he was awake, sleep seemed far away. He lay there in the darkness and stared up at the ceiling, alone with his thoughts. He could almost feel the silence of the temple closing in around him and he was surprised at how disconcerting that feeling was. It had been only a month since he'd left the cage for the temple and it seemed strange to him how quickly he'd become accustomed to the presence of other people when he'd been alone for so long.

No, 'accustomed' was too weak of a word. Goku was addicted to people. He craved the presence of others as proof that his solitude was at an end, especially the presence of one person in particular.

Sanzo had been the one to reach out and pull him from that place and it seemed only natural for Goku to cling to him like the lifeline he was. It was Sanzo who had saved him from the silence and isolation.

Thinking about the cave sent a shiver up Goku's spine. Suddenly his little room was too small, too silent. He knew that people surrounded him. He knew that he could leave the room whenever he wanted. He knew that there was food, sunlight, trees and flowers beyond the room. That did not stop the sudden terror that this was all a dream and that he was still trapped and alone with only the endless blue sky for company.

Goku scrambled out of his bed and lunged for the door, half expecting it to turn into stone bars under his hands as he shoved it open. When the door slid open with the ease it usually did, Goku's knees went weak with relief and he felt silly for even thinking that it would be otherwise. Sanzo would have called him a baby monkey for being scared of nothing.

He glanced up and down the corridor, giving his eyes a moment to adjust to the dim moonlight that poured through the window at the end of the hall. He padded on silent feet to the room across from his. Placing his hand on the door, he hesitated. If Sanzo woke to find him sneaking into his room, he'd be pissed. He'd smack Goku with the fan and send him back to his own room. Goku really didn't want to return to his little room, and decided that no matter what Sanzo said, he wouldn't. He'd found that if he was really annoying, Sanzo would sometimes give in just to shut him up, but only sometimes.

Very rarely.

Almost never, actually.

Bracing himself, Goku slid the door open and squeezed his eyes shut in anticipation of the scolding.

Silence greeted him. He opened his eyes to see Sanzo's sleep-mussed blonde hair peaking out from under his covers. Goku inched further into the room and slid the door shut behind him.

The only motion from the sleeping monk was the steady rise and fall of his chest. Goku crept closer until he was standing at the edge of the futon. Still no reaction from Sanzo.

Moving slowly, Goku sunk down and slid under the corner of the covers, but not close enough to touch. He'd gotten away with this so far, he thought actually snuggling up to the monk would probably be pushing his luck and earn him more than just a smack with the fan. He'd learned pretty quickly after meeting the monk that Sanzo Did Not Like To Be Touched. Ever.

Goku wondered if Sanzo wasn't lonely like that. Goku hadn't realized while he was locked up how much he'd missed human contact until the day Sanzo reached out for him. People needed to touch and to be touched, and he didn't think that Sanzo was any different. Goku couldn't understand why someone would forgo touching, or even avoid it. He wouldn't let Sanzo get lonely, he decided. Even though the monk would get mad at first, Goku refused to let him feel the same isolation that he'd felt.

That settled, Goku curled up under Sanzo's blankets and let out a contented sigh. He could feel the warmth from Sanzo's body across the small distance between them. He could hear the soft sigh of his breath, rhythmic and soothing. He could smell the soap the monk had used during his bath and the unique scent that was all Sanzo's that hovered under it.

Goku closed his eyes and let all these things lull him into a gentle sleep. He was not alone. He was not trapped. Sanzo was there.


End file.
